Selfless
by Xelako
Summary: Humanity's greatest hero ever is broken inside. What is keeping him together? What if he losses that something? Will he be able to pick up the pieces or will he need help? MCXOC, Rated T for language and mild violence, may become M if I feel like it.
1. Chapter 1

Do you know what rampancy is? The short version of the story is when AIs go crazy. The long version... oh it's far worse than the other one. Imagine a white room. Its light came from nowhere to be seen, you just see white walls. Now place yourself in it. Silence alone should be able to make you go crazy. Your thoughts wander everywhere, the time when you wanted to kill someone for doing something stupid, or a scenario you made to feel special. Now that scenario seems real and you did kill that person. You know you didn't but yet there is something wrong inside of you telling you otherwise. It screams and you scream back. It multiplies and it overcomes your mind. That's rampancy. Rampancy is like falling apart, like a beast inside of you wakes up all of the sudden and wants to take over your mind and body alike. It may try to beat your consciousness. It may whisper evil thoughts in your ear. You will believe what it says, no matter how strong you are. You will believe it. You will embrace the beast as your own; it has lived so long inside of you that it knows what you think in every aspect of life. It is you, you are it.

"For some of the UNSC's more advanced Smart artificial intelligence, rampancy is an unavoidable flaw inherent in their creation. Smart artificial intelligences are based on the neural patterns of a human being, and they have a limited lifespan of seven years after which their memory maps become too interconnected and develop fatal endless feedback loops. Thus if an AI is kept active longer than seven years, the AI begins to use more and more of its computer power 'thinking' about things. They think themselves to death. Thus, it is only a matter of time before Smart artificial intelligences become rampant."

There's no sound where she waits, guarding the giant on his green amour. Time is slow and ever changing. Desperate to overcome a sickness and searching for an answer under every rock, she tries to finish her last mission.

"Please..." she pleas to no one and no one listens to her. Her voice is lost in the silence.

She had no regrets, protocol stated that she should shut herself down and die; but who was going to save him? She hacked her own matrix core to keep functioning. Spartan-117 had to go home. On his deep slumber, the green giant waits to be awakened. For good or for bad. He only knows war. Cortana wishes to wake him up. Only to have someone to listen to her.

Yet she never wakes him and instead she sends beacons to get help. Static was all that ever greeted her on the radio and nothing else. She looked at the Chief's cryo-pod and sat at the edge of her holopad. She hugged her legs and stared at a spot on the glass were the Chief's helmet is supposed to be. She sighed. What if he died or she stopped functioning? What if the revels found them and disconnected the oxygen of the cryo-pod. What if debris simply floating by came and crashed against said tube and killed the Chief? He could get a heart attack or a stroke. She would be alone until she thought herself to death.

This time, there was another noise. Was it a voice or had the rampancy worked faster than expected?

"Sssssss thisssss is UN sssssss Will ssssss" it was a male voice that greated her, the hiss of static was easily corrected by Cortana. It wouldn't have been there to begin wit if she had been working perfectly "This is UNSC Good Will, we've got your beacon. Do you copy? Repeat do you copy?"

"This is CTN- Cortana onboard the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, we need assistance copy" her voice hid the happiness very well. Cortana then started every protocol on the Spartan's cryo-pod just so that he would be ready soon.

"Copy that Cortana... would you need medical assitance?" The voice sounded almost in awe, wich was good considering the situation at hand. Cortana sighed and responded with a negative after reviewing the Chief's medical stats. There was a hiss followed by the man's voice "we are sending in an extraction team... over and out."

Cortana was left with the sound of stat the radio and promptly turned it off. She turned on her avatar illuminating the room in a blue hue. Her feminine form was standing with crossed arms, the position emphasizing her flat abdomen and slim legs; her face one of concentration. Her image flickered red before fully collapsing. Cortana's avatar was tinted crimson and curled up in fetal position. Panting heavily, she hugged her knees tighter to her chest.

The clank of metal over metal woke her up from her state, announcing the arrival of the so called "extraction team". The avatar flickered to blue again. Her expression was cold and collected, hiding the pain, but somehow a smile forced itself onto her lips when the Chief's cryo-pod was ready to open.

Ignoring her pain, she checked once more every code and started the weakening process of the cryo-pod.


	2. Chapter 2

Several kids sat around a big bonfire, the sound of laughter was sweet in his ears. Inner jokes and stories where being shared by the eager children as they enjoyed each other's company and the heat from the fire in the chill of the night. If they could actually be called children of course, their bodies where those of muscled teenagers with the face of a baby. This were his brothers and sisters, the Spartans. He watched the conversation with a serious demeanor. He couldn't join in the laughter or the conversation. He was the leader after all. He was supposed to be an authoritative role model, to inspire awe in them and to inspire them into following his leadership. Being a leader wasn't easy at all.

"Hey John" his train of thought had been stopped by Sam, a tall boy with sandy blond hair and deep emerald eyes "you can have mine" in his hand stood an MRE 'Meal Ready to Eat' the taste was awful and every single one tasted the same. Exept for the bbq one and the fish one. The first tasted like dull meat with a even more dull sauce but it at least had taste, the fish one had perhaps come from hell or something worst just to haunt everyone who dared eat it. It was not just the salty smell or the acid parts, but the acrid smell of rotten fish that came from it. He couldn't believe Fred actually could eat the God dammed thing without puking or dying from explosive diarrhea (to explicit?)

"Sam" he was staring to object "I can't..."

"Shut up and eat John" Sam forced the MRE into his hand "you haven't eaten since this morning and you discovered the MREs in that old warehouse"

"Sam you don't have to do it" John started to say, that's when he noticed the tag on the silver bag.

"I know you are a hungry one... I saw you stealing Daisy's crackers on Deja's classroom" John turned to him wide eyed. Sam laughed loudly making everyone turn their heads.

"Did I just hear my name?" Spoke the so called Daisy, her short brown hair seemed to be blond with the light of the fire.

"I said noisy not Daisy" laughter erupted with Sam's comment, this time John allowed himself to smile.

He was in a fog, his skin itched painfully but he ignored the pain. With muscles still numb, he cracked his neck with a loud wet pop. Satisfied with the sound he continued with his shoulders rotating them clockwise and counterclockwise, joints popping with the release of tension. He breathed in, his chest expanding until he couldn't take in anymore air. He exhaled with a sight and pushed the glass that kept him away from the world.

The first thing he saw was Cortana smiling at him from her holo pad. The first thing he heard was a loud clank of metal over metal.

His first reaction was to grab the closest weapon. He found his rifle and checked the bullets. Cortana was amused at the sight, the normaly graceful warrior was floating aimlessly and with no control with a rifle pointed at nothing.

"Calm down chief" she updated his hud to show four yellow blobs "just our welcoming party." He nodded never let go of his rifle.

The yellow dots on his hud approached with ease, the chief waited for perhaps 3 minutes until a white light poured into the room. He was surprised to see 4 men in some Spartan armour of sorts. They all wore different colours but with the same black visors and the design of a raven painted black on their shoulders.

'ODSTs have gotten a far better armour' thought the Chief noticing the smaller size of the men before him. He waited until they got closer or for Cortana to do something. The one with the white armour shoved the blue one aside, throwing him into a wall. The Chief decided they had to be ODSTs and would have sighed if not for his training. The ODSTs saluted and the Chief barely got his hand to his head.

His COM was turned on by Cortana. After some unusual static, a deep male voice simply told him to follow his lead. The Chief nodded and yanked Cortana from the holo pad. He incerted the chip and felt the cold... no, this is wrong... he felt warm mercury. He quickly created a private COM while following the men.

"Cortana what's wrong?" His deep voice never failing to sound cold and controlled.

"It's good to be back" Cortana's voice sounded happy and normal, but not quite fooling him.

"Cortana" his tone was accusatory which fitted perfectly with deep voice.

"I'm fine John... I just need to rest that's it" he could almost imagine her smiling at him, trying to reassure him.

"Are you sure?" He asked in a slightly more authoritative tone, hopping to get the answers without angering her.

She hesitated for a second "I'm positive" but a second is like a year for a smart AI and John new that. She more than likely needed some privacy. So he let it go... for now.

He followed the colorfull ODSTs through the wreck of the sheep. Floating and using the walls to push himself, he finally got to were a Pelican was waiting for them. The ODSTs pilled in and he simply followed them preferring to stand by the door. The door closed and he expected to hear the dull hiss that never came. The speakers inside the pelican were turned on by the pilot.

" Sorry guys the hatch is having some problems with closing correctly... don't take of your helmets... Falcon over and out"

The ODST in grey spartan armor banged his head in clear annoyance. Another ODST in red armour playfully shoved the grey one and turned on his speakers.

"Chill boss you'll be back barking at us in no time" the other ODSTs also turned on their speakers and laughed. John thought this so called leader opposed no authority with his collages.

"Let it be Scott, it's fine like this" murmured the blue one, placing his arms at the back of his head.

The ride to the ship was uneventful and short. The ship was painted black with the words Epsilon written in white paint. It could possibly be one of the biggest human flagships the chief ever saw, bigger than the Pilar of Autumn and far better equipped in guns. The pelican docked in the south docks, several doctors and techs were waiting for them among other workers and soldiers that simply had work to do. The crowd went wild with cheers and claps as the pelican opened its doors and the chief stepped of the pelican scorted by the ODSTs. The hoarde of medics quickly motioned the chief and company to follow them through the ship and to the south med bay. The halls were wide enough for 2 warthogs too drive side by side with plenty space left in between. The soldiers walking around the halls saluted wen they saw the chief.

The medical bay was connected with the tech bay as they sometimes had need for each other. First the chief was sent to the tech bay where the MJOLMIR armor was scanned for damage. The armor of the team that escorted him was also being scanned. Every set of armor had bullets stuck, blood, bumbs and scratches. The Chief's armor was of course more damaged for the last time it got fixed was probably when the Pilar of autumn still soared the space. Got to think about it, he had thought too much about that ship today. A tech motioned him to enter a machine that was to take of the MJOLMIR.

"For the medical tests" said the tech that seemed to be about to have a mental break down of sorts. John nodded and complied followed by more techs and the others. There were 10 of those machines in the south tech bay, 40 in all the ship as a tech informed him about the procedure. John relaxed and spread his arms and legs. The other MJOLMIR clad soldiers stood in the machines in front of John with similar posses. Robotic arms with claw like fingers creeper from the ceiling and floor to remove the armor. The process that would have normally taken 20 minutes took less than 5 minutes. To John's surprise, there were 2 women in front of him. The so called Alex had chestnut long hair just inches off regulation, brown eyes, round nose and round feminine chin accompanied with taned skin. The other one was a blond with short stylish hair, piercing blue eyes, her face was delicate and her skin was the color of porcelain. They tried to get away from the tech/med bay with their other team members but an argument started with several medics.

"It's protocol for Spartan IV" spoke a man with white hair, possibly a medic.

"Don't talk to me about Spartan IV protocol" Alex took a step towards the medic but a tall man with sandy blond hair and deep emerald eyes placed a hand on her shoulder. Alex didn't relax, but she stopped fighting and gently brushed away the hand of her teammate. "Make it quick" she snapped at the doctor.

"Chill Alex" murmured the man with the sandy blond hair.

"Shut up Scott" Scott chuckled.

"Ah I missed your barking"

"I don't bark Scott"

"No? Then what is it sis? A growl?" There was a man similar to Alex but of course manlier and with a strong jaw. Alex ignored the man and layed down on a metallic table inside the med bay. A medic asked the Chief and the others to the same in other tables. He explained to the Chief that it was a medical multi-scanner. The Chief nodded and layed down on his own table. He had Cortana's chip in one hand, gently holding it as to not do any harm to it.

"Hmm sir I'm going to ask you to place that chip in one of our counters so that it does no interference" the medic looked nervous and slided a tray close to the Chief. John considered it for a while and finally let go of Cortana's chip and laid it on the metallic tray. The medic nodded and started the scanner which took longer than John expected. The room was all white with blue screens by each scanner and at random desks. The Chief turned his head toward the closest screen which was listing very single injury, cataloging it by severity. He had several broken bones, internal hemorrhages, burns from being in the cryo-pod, and other lesser injuries.

He later was moved to a capsule that looked just like a cryo-pod but completely horizontal. He had Cortanas chip in hand as he walked behind a medic. The crystal closed moments after he entered and all was black in his memory.

* * *

Are my chapters too short? Please give me a review ;)


	3. Chapter 3

The smell of putrefaction was imbedded deep into his nostrils, vile surging up his throat. The sun had long since left him alone in the hell hole that used to be a city full of life, the moon his only companion. Corpses wearing uniform or civilian clothes lay scattered all over the streets. There was a pile of burning corpses where the asphalt had been wrecked by some unknown force. The odor was repulsive and unlike all the other corpses this ones seemed to have at least 2 months burning. It was a putrid, nauseating and sweet smell he would never forget.

That's when he heard it; a deep guttural growl was heard in the distance. There would never be anything quite like that. It seemed like more than one person was screaming but he would never know.

Holding his rifle with a death grip, making sure of not breaking it under his hand, he continued walking. He was looking for something, or rather someone.

He kept marching until he found the place of impact. Was it a tunnel or a ship buried deep into the earth? It didn't matter for he had to enter.

Inside, the walls where of a pale green color with a fleshy texture. There was the hollering again, this time it was longer, sending chills through his spine and cold sweat dripping from his brow. There was a sound, like water hitting a cold stone, at his back. Reflexes kicked in forcing the body to turn, but the eyes saw nothing. He was about to lower his weapon when something fell on his shoulder accompanied by the putrid smell.

A single hand left the rifle and reached past his shoulder. Feeling flesh, he gripped and pulled. The thing was trying to rip his body suit to reach his flesh and it would have succeeded if John hadn't pulled it off. He held it in front of his golden visor. The best way to describe it was "a flesh balloon with tentacles". His grip became stronger until the balloon exploded leaving his hand filled with green gore.

He went down the hall with his rifle raised. There was an explosion behind him, it sounded wet. A swarm of balloons, or infection forms as he later learned to call them, surged from a protuberance on the wall. He shot each of them with single bursts, not missing a single one or wasting bullets. Three more explotions where heard accompanied by hollering.

The shooting started and many more explotions were heard. The infection forms seemed infinite unlike his bullets. The hollering was closer. One of the infection forms made a successful leap towards John's chest. He quickly grabbed and squeezed it. More fell to his chest forcing him to drop his now bullet-less rifle. His hands quickly brushed away the infection forms, but there where many of them. On went for his neck, finding the spot where one of his brethren started its work. It ripped away the hard bulletproof material with its tentacles.

The pain of something trying to reach his spinal cord was unbelievable more painful than a bullet. He grabbed it but wasn't able to pull it off. More infection forms crawled over him. The smell of putrefaction wasn't the worst. It was that terrible hollering and the pain in his neck. His chest felt tight and he was beginning to feel light headed. He fell on one knee and the swarm of infection forms toppled over him. He couldn't see anything, his vision darkened. He fainted.

John woke up panting heavily and sweating. He wasn't with the flood. It had been a dream. He wasn't where he fell asleep either. He was in a small room with grey walls. It had a bed big enough for him and an empty closet. The next thing he noticed was a holopad with a dull white light.

"Cortana?" Cortana's avatar spurred to life, she appeared standing and smiling at him.

"Good morning chief" she smiled even wider "you've been asleep for 3 days"

"3 days huh..." The chief scratched his head, his hair didn't have the normal buzz cut he normally had but somehow he didn't care right now. He stood up and fell forward staring one armed pushups. He did 200 of those (100 per arm) and many more exercises until he was sweating.

"Are you done?" Cortana asked sarcastically sitting with her legs crossed on the holopad. The Chief nodded in response "there are some showers somewhere around here, just turn right and then left, there's a big red sign at the door" the chief nodded and found a towel and other things. When he arrived to the showers he found the team that escorted him out of the wreck. There was a blond woman he didn't notice wearing only a towel chatting with a brunette. The blond was unzipping the brunette's under amour suit. He ignored them especially when they became quiet and stared at him for a couple of seconds then continued chatting.

He entered a shower and left the cold water hit his sore muscles. He rested his hands on the wall in front of him and relaxed, flexing his muscles every now and then. There were 2 other persons using the showers, the other 2 team members he guessed. John closed his eyes and focused on every single drop of water caressing his skull and hitting his back.

"Oh. My. GOD! Don't even go there!" One of the woman almost shouted, John didn't know which one since he never really paid attention to any.

"Why? I mean... I know how your mind works. I know you thought about it!" Replied the other woman clearly defending her self.

"I did thought about it, but I didn't said it out loud... oh God what if he heard you!"

"He couldn't have heard me Alex" he heard a frustrated sigh "not even the other guys heard you" that's when John heard 2 other male voices.

"We heard Zoe"

"Oh shut up Scott and Louis... Chief did you hear what I said?" John heard another sigh possibly coming for Alex and a couple of chuckles from the guys, he waited a second to respond.

"I didn't heard you" he was rewarded by silence and continued with his shower.

Outside the shower, both girls stood in silence. Alex about to enter the shower staring at Zoe with wide eyes. Alex was thinking about the deep voice that sounded like a bass or something else she couldn't pin point. Zoe was pondering if she was heard or not. I mean speaking about a guy's dick when he is near isn't wise AT ALL. Alex entered the shower before Scott and Louis got out, Zoe started dressing herself in black pants and a grey UNSC sleeveless shirt, Spartans IV on her team didn't really wore the under-armour everywhere they went like the others. Scott got out of his shower, a towel hanging loose from his hips and shiny drops on water on his short sandy blond hair.

"Zoe" he called her attention with a smirk on his face "do you really want to compare us with him? Because I'd definitely like to show you" he was starting to get his towel off when she threw him a sock. He chuckled and started looking for a sleeveless shirt like Zoe's.

"I really wouldn't want to help you Zoe" said Louis coming out of his shower, smirking at her "you'd have to fight me a bit"

"Eww Louis" she looked at both of them with a supposed-to-be stern look "you are both such pervs eww" they laughed.

The chief got out and Scott threw him some random clothing garments. The chief caught them one handed and looked at him for an explanation.

"Those are yours from the equipment room... they are big enough for you I think" the Chief continued to be silent but nodded "for more stuff you have to go get them there, bye" the 3 of them started towards the door when Scott spoke again "Hey Alex! We'll be at the north training room"

"Copy that" she shouted from her shower "bye babes" the word 'babes' was simply weird to the Chief's ears.

He stared at the grey UNSC shirt and then at his under armour. It had become a second skin to him, but of course he couldn't be wearing it forever. He sighed and pulled on the shirt.

Alex got out of the shower with a towel on her head and one on her body. The Chief was still there, his eyes studying the hem of his shirt. The shirt seemed to stay together with faith as it looked like if he bended the wrong way it would fall to pieces.

"That shirt is too small for you" she commented looking for her clothes on a black bag.

"You think?" He stopped staring at the shirt and looked at her.

"Let me see" Alex positioned herself to be at the Chief's back, she tried looking for the tag that normally stated the size but she was too small.

"What are you doing?" He asked turning around.

"Stay still" she stepped on one of the benches and tried again, this time pulling the Chief towards her. No one ever had ever dared pull him or touch him as a matter of fact. The Chief wanted to pull her off over his shoulder and slam her into the ground as he would do to an elite. But she isn't an elite, she is someone trying to help him, isn't she? "There, this shirts is an XXL we need an XXXL for you" Alex hoped off the bench, dressed herself quickly in shorts and a shirt and went towards the door. He stood there looking at nothing in particular. "Chief you coming?" He nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

The Hyperion was built to be easily navigated in the inside with 4 different bays that are basically the same with other people. The equipment's room was just at a 2 minutes walk from the showers. The south equipment room was full of garments, linens, boots, cans and more boxes with MRE meals.

"Raven one" the man in charge of the equipment room saluted "your sports bras just came in" he showed her a small cardboard box and Alex oohed.

"Thank you corporal" she quickly opened the box practically ripping it apart as if it was a piñata and took of her shirt. The corporal turned away with a stern look and motioned the Chief towards another area of the room. Before turning away the Chief noticed several brand new pink scars on her side that probably had been inflicted by an energy sword.

When a computer is having problems you try shutting off and on, erasing useless apps or documents, minimizing tasks until the problem is fixed. That's what Cortana was doing right now. Erasing every single useless data on her memory and trying to fix herself. But what is she fixing? What is she trying to fix when the problem is her mind?

Pictures, past thoughts, memories, video records and documents, she was going through every single one of them. Years of knowledge being shrieked so that she can live. The most important parts weren't being erased, they were coded and sent to a digital safe vault she had been working on since the Chief entered his cryo sleep.

From a code she stole from a covenant AI, she copied herself into 4 other AIs that acted as guards for that data. She had perfected the code and now she could completely copy every single detail of herself and change the inner protocols to whatever she wanted.

Data was something simply precious to her, to an AI. Every document she deleted she deleted a part of herself. Like dying slowly.

"I'm dying" her avatar hugged her legs and buried her face in her knees. Soft sobs could be heard in the dark room as Cortana lay there sobbing quietly, her back visibly moving up and down with each strained breath she took.

The chief had a big gray duffel bag and a shirt that actually looked normal on him. Alex and the Chief saluted and got out of the room.

"Do you feel naked?" She asked when they were walking.

"What?"

"The whole no-longer-wearing-the-suit thing" the Chief looked at her for a second, she had a serious face as if she actually cared, but her voice told him she was teasing him.

"Uhh... I ah..." What was he supposed to say? "Yes I feel very naked right now, thanks for asking." There was an awkward silence while they walked side by side. He was to go back to his room and leave his things there. She was to go to the northern gym.

"Well here we part" she saluted "oh and by the way the Captain will call you later" she turned right on a corner and disappeared from his eyesight.

The chief walked away swiftly towards the room in which he woke up. The door opened automatically for him. The room was dark with a deep blue light from the holopad. Cortana laid there in fetal position, the Chief had only seen her in that position. He saw her like that when he was rescuing her from the Gravemind.

"Cortana" he dropped his bag and quickly ran to her holopad.

"Hi Chief" She saw him kneel in front of her holopad. She took this moment to slowly study his face. She studied the faint creases on the corner of his eyes, his straight nose that fitted perfectly with his cheekbones. She took a special interest in his strong jaw line and how cute the faint remnants of the fleckers looked on him. Cortana smiled weakly, but it was a smile. John half smiled in return, it looked forced and more like a grimace.

"Cortana what's wrong?" He placed his hand on the holopad near her body. Cortana used her arms to push her body into a seating position.

"Did someone ever told you how long an AI lives?" She smiled again and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. She looked at him with sad electric blue eyes. John didn't respond, instead he looked at her with such an intensity it seemed like he wanted to figure out everything that was wrong with the world. "The more data we have... the less space for actual thinking we have... we smart AIs tend to think ourselves to death" there was a silence in the room. You could cut the tension with a butter knife.

"Cortana" John started "how long do AIs live?"

"Dumb AIs could live on forever... me... 7 years"

"How old are you Cortana?" The chief gulped and waited for Cortana to answer. She turned her face to look straight into his eyes.

"8 years old" Cortana's avatar flickered and turned red for a second. She was once again hugging her legs, but not sobbing. John was silent for a while, not looking at her but at the floor. "They let me pick, did I ever tell you that?"

"What? Pick what?" John stared at her weak form on the holopad.

"To choose whichever Spartan I wanted." She smiled not looking at him, he just stared at her worriedly. "You know me. I did my research. Watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be. Like the others, you were strong and swift and brave. A natural leader." A pause "But you had something they didn't. Something no one saw... but me. Can you guess?" She seemed to be remembering something, while not looking at him. It was as if she wasn't even speaking with him "Luck. Was I wrong?" Her avatar suddenly shut down leaving the room in utter darkness.

"Cortana!" John gently tapped the holopad as it would magically bring her avatar back. "Cortana are you ok?" The holopad glowed twice as in response. "2 glows for yes?" The holopad glowed 2 more times. John signed and sat on the bed.

There was a knock on his door followed by its opening and revealing a young private. The private saluted swiftly and the chief saluted back.

"Master Chief Sir" he was so straight he was shaking a bit "Captain Delgado is requesting your presence in the bridge" the chief stood up, ejected and hid Cortana's glowing chip in his pocket.

The private leaded the Chief to several until they arrived to an automatic door labeled BRIDGE in red letters. The steel doors opened after the private scanned a card. The bridge was all grey with a green hue due to the several screens on the bridge. This bridge was beautiful as its outer walls where made of glass, the Chief could see the vastness of the space as if he was in an observation deck in the front of the ship. The floor was made of dark steel as was the ceiling. The private led him forward where there was a big table with a green screen serving as a holopad for an intergalactic map. The Captain was leaning forward with both hands firmly on the table, he could tell he was the Captain for his badges and his hat. The private stood at attention with the chief, both of them inhumanly straight. The Captain seemed to notice them and turned around to face them. He had a tanned and wrinkled skin and graying short hair. He noticed the stiffness on both their bodies and sighed silently.

"At ease soldiers" he nodded towards the private "you are free to go Reynolds" the private saluted and walked away with grace "he is a good boy Chief, too bad he didn't go to military school earlier. I'm planning on getting him into the Spartan IV program when he is ready." the Captain laid his hands against the table once again, facing the Chief and not the table. The Chief wondered what the Spartan IV program was and made a mental note to ask Cortana to hack the information for him. "Welcome back Chief" the Captain saluted lazily "I'm Captain Delgado of the Hyperion, this is the stargazer bridge, one of the most beautifully designed bridges in all the UNSC." The Captain seemed to be proud of his bridge and wanted everyone to know how magnificent it was. "We encountered your cryo-pod in what was left of the Forward Unto Dawn. We had just come from a mission in this sector and our orders were to scout the area and scavenge whatever looks useful. After we detected Cortana's signal, team Raven offered to go and get you. Team Raven had just come from a scouting mission on Keranos where they found remains of hostile covenant troops." The steel doors hissed as they opened once again, Raven team entered with graceful steps and serious faces. Some of the officers quickly stood up and saluted after recognizing them, some even gave friendly hellos.

"Captain" Alex nodded at the captain, the whole team stopped behind the chief and saluted crisply at the same time.

"At ease, Chief this was your extraction team" the Captain nodded towards them "as I said they just came from a mission on Keranos and I'd like to request for your assistance" it wasn't really a question so the chief simply nodded "I also understand that you have an AI with you and I'd like to see her" The Captain showed the chief a slot for Cortana's chip. John hesitated for a moment, not enough for a non-Spartan to realize, but still. He inserted the chip and Cortana appeared standing with her hands clasped behind her and her typical smile on her face.

"Good evening Captain" Cortana smiled brightly at the Captain.

"Cortana, how are you?" The Captain smiled at her, his eyes wrinkles showing more than normal.

"I'm good thanks for asking" she smiled once again and looked at John with her bright blue eyes. John nodded slightly understanding that Cortana wanted secrecy.

"Great, as expected you'll be accompanying Raven Team and the Chief instead of Tobi"

"Did someone said my name" Tobi's avatar was tall and wore all black clothing with a green vest. His hair was messy and spiked, but what most called anyone's attention were the spiral like scars on the left side of his face and a red pupil on the same side. "I swear I heard my name!"

"You are being replaced Tobi" Spoke a member of Raven team, the one with the sandy blond hair.

"I'm not being replaced Scott... right Alex?" Tobi looked at Alex with pleading eyes, not yet taking an interest on Cortana or John.

"Don't ask me Tobi" she raised her hands on defense "ask the Cap"

"Captain?" Tobi looked at the Captain and then at Cortana. "You are replacing me with her?"

"Just for one mission Tobi"

"Whaaaaaat? Me! Tobi! Replaced!" Tobi started huffing and mumbling angry words while pacing back and forth.

"I need you to help the techs with Alex's helmet problems" Tobi looked at the Captain "it's as important as going down to Keranos" Tobi then looked at Raven team, they all nodded happily.

"Ok" Tobi's avatar disappeared with a holographic smoke bomb

"That was Toby, a dumb AI specialized on technology... he is a bit weird." John nodded not really caring "Rest chief, Alex's helmet will probably take a day or more to be good to go again" John saluted "you too Raven team" they also saluted.

John moved to take Cortana's chip when the Captain motioned him to stop.

"Leave her, she can have access to the whole ship from here anyways" the Captain smiled at Cortana, clearly wanting to speak with her, John saluted and followed Raven team out of the bridge.

"The legendary Master Chief" called Louis, the brunette, when they were outside. "Savior of all mankind" John turned to look at him annoyed with Louis's tone "it'll be an honor to save with you sir" Louis offered his hand with a serious face and John grabbed his hand firmly.

"Now kiss" murmured Scott while pushing Louis towards the Chief. The girls laughed and Alex slapped Scott in the arm while laughing.

"Stop fooling around, I'm hungry" Alex shoved Louis and Scott away and walked down the hallway "guys you coming?" They nodded, John stood there looking at the doors wondering what was Cortana doing "Chief you coming?" John turned and saw that only Alex and him where standing on the hallway. He nodded and followed her to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was pretty much the same as every cafeteria on every ship or school or whatever place that needs a cafeteria. The Spartans made a line for food and then sat on am empty table. You could see groups of marines playing poker or simply chatting with each other. It wasn't that loud for a normal person, unless you were a Spartan. Spartans can hear every single word.

"Zoe eat my veggies" Scott passed some broccoli to Zoe, the blond woman. "Give me potatoes" he grabbed the potatoes with his fork. Apparently this was normal as the so called Zoe didn't even flinch or reacted in any way. John didn't recall the last time he did that with a fellow soldier.

"So Chief" spoke Zoe munching on a carrot "Do you have a name or something?"

"Zoe don't be rude" snapped Alex in a mocking tone.

"I'm not, it was a completely normal question" she pointed her fork towards the Chief "so! Do you have a name? I really don't fancy calling you "Chief" every time I need to talk to you."

"John"

"Hmmm" murmured Zoe and turned to look at her food, John found this Zoe a bit weird.

"What Zoe?" Asked Alex, Zoe shrugged "you don't like his name?" Scott chucked and Zoe shrugged again.

"I don't even know why" Zoe stabbed her meat.

"Maybe because it's biblical or something like that" offered Alex smiling and looking at John every now and then.

"Yup that's it! I don't like it because it's biblical" Alex laughed and shoved Zoe gently.

"Don't mind this guys" said Louis who was seating next to John "they are crazy, specially my sis"

"Sis?" Asked John.

"Alex is my twin, identical... before you ask she was born first and that's why she is so bossy with us"

"I wasn't going to ask"

"Then I gave you free info" Louis shook his head, clearly annoyed at John.

"I'm not bossy, ok? I'm just easily angered" Alex stabbed a broccoli and ate it while staring at Louis who just snorted.

"Cortana?" Called the chief standing in front of the small holo-pad in his barracks. The room was dark so that he could see any change on the holo-pad. He feared that something bad happened to her since he left her with the Captain. She sighed with relief as he saw her avatar emerge from the darkness.

"Hello" she seemed to be okay so he relaxed in his bed.

"Is there a cure" he asked after a while.

"No John" she looked at him with sad eyes "there's no cure that I know of, only what you humans call a "treatment" which will prolong my life"

"And what is it?" John asked with hopeful eyes, or what only Cortana could interpret as "hopeful eyes".

"Deleting my memory, which would count as killing me and building a new Cortana model AI" she sighed "or deleting all my files, the alternative to that I'm already going it and it'll only give me a month at much" there was an eerie silence after that.

"Halsey"

"What?"

"Dr. Halsey can save you, she created you and probably knows you inside out"

"John..."

"Cortana, I'll get you to Halsey" he closed the space between them. "I pro-"

"Don't John... don't... not this time" and her avatar went off.


End file.
